Coffee is one of the most popular and widely consumed beverages in the world. The industry is reportedly worth in the tens of (US$) billions per year and it is the second most traded commodity after petroleum.
There are numerous ways to prepare coffee for drinking. A very popular option is to percolate ground roasted coffee beans, for instance using an Italian-style stove top coffee maker, also commonly known as the ‘Moka pot’ or ‘Macchinetta’. For convenience, the term ‘Moka pot’ will be referred to throughout the remainder of the specification. Other types of percolators are also available, such as the ‘Percolator Pot’.
The method of percolating coffee in a Moka pot relies on a two part stove-top device. It works by boiling water in a lower container to produce steam which increases pressure in this lower container. As a result, the water is driven through funnel-like filter into a central basket containing finely ground coffee. The water extracts the flavour and coffee oils in the ground coffee before being transferred (again through pressure) to an upper container ready for use.
In comparison, the Percolator Pot system does not use two containers, nor does it use pressure to force water through the coffee.
The percolation method, regardless of the type of device used, is widely used in Europe and South America and is growing in popularity in other countries. People enjoy the freshness of this coffee opposed to instant coffee made from freeze-dried or spray-dried alternatives. Percolated coffee also is popular because it retains the flavour more than filter coffee (also known as drip coffee). The filter coffee method, although convenient for making larger amounts of coffee, is disliked by many because of a loss of flavour and texture compared to the percolation method. This flavour loss is due primarily because the filter paper removes the natural oils present in coffee beans.
Despite the popularity of preparing coffee by the percolation method, there still remain some considerable difficulties and hindrances with the process.
Coffee beans contain natural oils, which tend to cause the ground coffee to have a sticky characteristic when the beans are heavily roasted and/or finely ground (as in the case of espresso coffees). Despite the oil being important for adding flavour to the coffee as noted above, the oil can cause significant problems when dispensing and preparing a coffee such as an espresso using a percolator method. These problems are highlighted further below.
This sticky characteristic can significantly add to the difficulty in evenly tamping the basket of a Moka pot and as a result can make handling/dispensing the ground coffee particularly inconvenient.
In order to address this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,648 describes a coffee dispenser used to fill a basket of a Moka pot. The concept in U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,648 relies on a cup-like device positioned in a hopper. The cup contains ground coffee which when flipped, dispenses the coffee into the basket positioned underneath. When the cup continues to rotate, the cup edge shaves off the top of the dispensed coffee, and the convex portion of the cup (the bottom) could help tamp the dispensed coffee as the cup is returned to the upwards facing position.
However, this dispenser concept will undoubtedly have problems in evenly tamping the coffee into the basket as one side of the basket will receive the majority of the dispensed coffee due to gravitational force during rotation. Furthermore, if the device in U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,648 were to be used with larger sized baskets, the cup will likely dispense the coffee just into the centre of the basket, and not evenly fill the basket.
A further problem resulting from the oily nature of ground coffee is that the coffee can get stuck to the walls of the hopper, if used. U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,648 does not provide any solution to effectively deal with this problem and its possible some of the ground coffee could also get stuck to the dispensing cup The ground coffee could also accumulate in the area under the cup between the aperture and the hopper wall.
A further problem with current percolation methods using Moka pots is that the ground coffee needs to be replaced each time a coffee is to be made. Typically this is done manually by the user filling up the central basket using a spoon before re-attaching the upper container. This can be a slow and messy process, and often the ground coffee is spilled. Not only is this a general inconvenience, but it also can lead to wasted coffee.
Also manual filling with a spoon does not look very chic or professional. As coffee is now considered to be a cultural/status symbol, this clumsy method of filling the basket of a Moka pot is a disadvantage to the percolation method.
Also, when filling the basket, it can be difficult to effectively pack (tamp) the ground coffee. Gentle and even tamping of the ground coffee is important to ensure a high quality coffee is produced. For instance, if there are areas of the basket where the ground coffee is not well tamped (or is uneven), the water will simply take the path of least resistance, and a weaker and/or potentially bitter flavoured coffee can result. Therefore, although it can be difficult to achieve, an objective with making high quality coffee is to have consistent density throughout the basket for even extraction and hence maximum flavour.
A further problem is over-pressurization, which can occur if the ground coffee is too densely tamped in the basket. This makes the tamping requirements quite different to a commercial espresso machine.
A lack of consistency can also result from these issues already mentioned, and in particular from a variance in tamping. This is a problem as users expect to be able to obtain a consistent strength and taste from one coffee to the next, regardless of whether making a coffee at home or purchasing at a café.
Currently, the percolation method using a Moka pot is most often used in the home setting. However, some of the problems discussed above including the oily nature of coffee, the inconsistency of flavour and quality, and the potential for mess make the process often inconvenient, too difficult or unenjoyable for many. If such problems are addressed, it will help to revitalize the popularity of the Moka pot in the existing home user markets. It may also make the Moka pot a more popular option for new and expanding markets such as throughout Asia if a user friendly way of dispensing coffee is found.
It should also be appreciated that many of the problems discussed above do not relate only to the percolation method using a Moka pot. For example, similar problems can exist with espresso machine Portafilters, or dispensers used with more sophisticated coffee grinder systems as often used in cafés or in the home setting.
On an even broader sense, many similar issues are often faced when dispensing a wide variety of particulate matter for a number of uses and applications.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.
Throughout this specification, the word “comprise”, or variations thereof such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.